Role of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Promoting Women’s Financial Inclusion: A Meta-Analysis of Evidence from Semi-Urban India

Financial inclusion has emerged as a central pillar of equitable development, particularly within emerging economies where structural inequalities continue to restrict access to formal financial systems. In India, despite decades of banking expansion and policy reforms, gendered patterns of exclusion persist, disproportionately affecting women in transitional socio-economic zones such as semi-urban regions. Within this context, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have evolved into a critical institutional innovation that facilitates access to savings, credit, and financial knowledge for marginalized women. This meta-analysis synthesizes empirical and theoretical literature to evaluate the effectiveness of SHGs in promoting women’s financial inclusion in semi-urban India. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of Sen’s Capability Approach (1999), Putnam’s Social Capital Theory (2000), and North’s Institutional Theory (1990), the study examines how collective financial structures generate economic agency and social empowerment. The findings indicate that SHGs significantly improve women’s access to savings mechanisms and microcredit while simultaneously enhancing financial literacy, collective bargaining power, and institutional engagement (Swain & Wallentin, 2009; NABARD, 2019; Tripathi & Singh, 2015). However, the analysis also identifies persistent structural constraints that limit the depth and sustainability of these gains. These constraints include patriarchal household structures, governance deficiencies within groups, technological exclusion, and limited market integration (Kabeer, 2005; Demirgüç-Kunt et al., 2018; Sharma & Jha, 2020). The study argues that SHGs function as quasi-institutional bridges that mediate between marginalized populations and formal financial systems. While access to financial services has expanded considerably, meaningful economic empowerment requires policy interventions that strengthen digital capability, institutional capacity, an